The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to
gather information in order to help establish priorities for targeted
nutrigenetic investigations in human studies for cancer prevention. The Nutritional
Science Research Group of the NCI’s Division
of Cancer Prevention is interested in well-designed dietary intervention
trials to investigate nutrigenetics as a determinant of the response to
bioactive food components and to evaluate their utility as biomarkers for
predicting risk and/or tumor behavior.

This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and
should not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of
the Federal Government, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and/or the
National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI does not intend to make any awards
based on responses to this RFI or to otherwise pay for the preparation of any
information submitted or for the Government's use of such information.

Background

Increasing evidence points to diet as a modifier of cancer
risk and tumor behavior. Numerous bioactive food components may be involved in
bringing about these responses. However the literature is filled with many
inconsistencies. Genetic variants involved with absorption, metabolism and/or
excretion of specific food components and their associated molecular targets
may provide valuable predictive insights into human response to foods and
dietary supplements. The scientific literature suggests incorporating
information on genetic variations involved with absorption, metabolism and/or
excretion processes may help to predict which individuals are likely to benefit
most by dietary modification. Genetic factors that might be useful in this
context include functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs),
copy number variants, and deletions and haplotype blocks. These interactions
may predict which individuals may be placed at risk when consuming suboptimal
diets occurring at low, exaggerated, and/or excessive intakes. Careful
consideration of the impact of these diet-sensitive genetic variants on their
molecular targets may help identify vulnerable populations for targeted
diet-based cancer prevention interventions.

Information Requested

The NCI Division of Cancer Prevention seeks information and
feedback from interested researchers and other interested parties on the areas
for further investigation:

Nutrient, bioactive food components from foods or supplements that
warrant further study.

Any specific cancer process related genes with molecular targets
that are diet-sensitive that should be evaluated. If so, which ones?

Critical issues that are limiting this area of investigation.

If you are willing to provide information and feedback,
please indicate your primary affiliation/role from the categories listed below:

Academia;

Small Business

Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Industry;

Federal Government;

State Government;

Healthcare Professional;

Patient Advocacy Group; and

Other (briefly define).

How to Submit a Response

Responses will be accepted through April 15, 2011. Interested
members of the nutrigenetics community and other interested members of the
medical, nutrition and genetics research communities are invited to respond.
Responses should be limited to three pages and marked with this RFI identifier
NOT-CA-11-009. Responses are preferred in electronic format and can be e-mailed
to emenaken@mail.nih.gov.

All individual responses will remain confidential. Any
identifiers (e.g., names, institutions, e-mail addresses, etc.) will be removed
when responses are compiled. Only the processed, anonymized results will be
shared internally with scientific working groups convened by the NCI, as
appropriate. Nonetheless, no proprietary information should be submitted.

Respondents will receive an automated email confirmation
acknowledging receipt of their response and will receive individualized
feedback.